There really isn't a win situation as it stands for the people of Syria. Either they get a homocidal manic in assad, or terrorists wahabists who will turn back the clock to the 7th century.
Now there is this that came out today which as it sounds to me is setting up for the use of chemical and bacterial weapons by assads regime.

Syria said on Monday it could use chemical weapons in response to any "external aggression" but they would not be used in President Bashar al-Assad's campaign to crush a 16-month-old uprising against his rule.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said any chemical or bacterial weapons were securely stored by the armed forces.

"The ministry wants to re-affirm the stance of the Syrian Arab Republic that any chemical or bacterial weapon will never be used - and I repeat will never be used - during the crisis in Syria regardless of the developments," Makdissi said.

"These weapons are stored and secured by Syrian military forces and under its direct supervision and will never be used unless Syria faces external aggression."

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That sounds well and good, responsible even. But then he goes on to say this:

Makdissi raised the possibility that "terrorists groups" might be supplied with biological weapons by outside powers which "could be used in one of the villages - God forbid - and then they would accuse the Syrian forces".

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Already setting up the regime's excuses for when they use their weapons.

There really isn't a win situation as it stands for the people of Syria. Either they get a homocidal manic in assad, or terrorists wahabists who will turn back the clock to the 7th century.

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Well, we don't really know, do we. We know what some people are telling us will happen but then, they're often the people with an axe to grind, saying as how we must be scared of the big Muslim boogie man

I think it will take some time to settle down but I'm not going to start worrying unduly at this point.

Well, we don't really know, do we. We know what some people are telling us will happen but then, they're often the people with an axe to grind, saying as how we must be scared of the big Muslim boogie man

I think it will take some time to settle down but I'm not going to start worrying unduly at this point.

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True, I would hope that when assad loses power that Syria is able to have open elections and move forward without the violence that it has seen now. We can only hope for secular Govt. to take over. Right now it is hard to say what will happen. The 2 concerns I have are 1. the US needs to stay out of this except for offering support once the situation is resolved. And 2. the chemical and biological weapons. the last thing anyone needs is for them to fall into the wrong hands and be used in attacks on others.

Fighter jets have bombed eastern areas of Syria's second city Aleppo, a BBC reporter near the city says.
The attack, which followed an artillery barrage, is seen as a significant escalation in the conflict.
Rebels launched an offensive against Aleppo at the weekend in an attempt to wrest the city from government forces.

The military's response today marked a sharp escalation in this battle.
Helicopter gunships spun through the skies throughout the day. Sustained artillery and mortar rounds pounded restive neighbourhoods.
But it was what happened late in the afternoon that underlined the grave risk to the government of losing ground in what is Syria's largest city and its economic capital.
First came an unmistakeable sound that has so far been absent in this conflict - the roar of fighter jets. What appeared to be Russian-made MiG planes arced through the sky.
We watched as they dropped in, bombing and strafing rebel positions.
Dead and wounded civilians and fighters were taken to hospitals and makeshift clinics as the human cost of this conflict continues to grow.

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I look forward to reading the comments decrying syria's disproportionate use of force.

A commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards has warned "hated Arab" rivals they could face repercussions for their efforts to topple the Tehran-backed regime of President Bashar Assad in Syria, a report said Tuesday.

Gen. Masoud Jazayeri did not specify any country or give details on the type of possible backlash, but Iran's main Arab foe Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations such as Qatar are key supporters of the Syrian rebels.

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"Soon the soil of Syria will be cleaned of the dirt of the enemy," Fars quoted Jazayeri as saying.
He added the "resistance" — meaning Assad's government and its allies— "will settle scores with enemies one by one."

Jazayeri, also a spokesman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that Assad's regime has friends in the region poised to "strike out" — an apparent reference to forces that include Hezbollah and Hamas.
"Yet none of the friends of the Syrian government and the great front of resistance has entered the scene. If this happens, they will strike back hard at the enemy, particularly the hated Arabs," Jazayeri was quoted as saying.

They seem very serious to me. From what I read in the Iranian media, I get a sense that the shit is about to hit the fan big time if the Saudis don't back the ******** off in Syria. I'd not be surprised if Iran officially enters the war in Syria if they feel that Assad has lost control. It won't be a pretty sight though, it will like Lebanon in 80's but ten times bigger. The Wahabis/Saudis are in for a rude awakening. It won't be an even fight. You will have an organized professional army like this:

They seem very serious to me. From what I read in the Iranian media, I get a sense that the shit is about to hit the fan big time if the Saudis don't back the ******** off in Syria. I'd not be surprised if Iran officially enters the war in Syria if they feel that Assad has lost control. It won't be a pretty sight though, it will like Lebanon in 80's but ten times bigger. The Wahabis/Saudis are in for a rude awakening. It won't be an even fight. You will have an organized professional army like this:

Going after primitive idiots like these:

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Its hard to say when they are being serious since being loud and obnoxious is the norm for ME leaders going back to the 70's that I can recall. There are always outlandish remarks being made by various leaders and such.

Now while I have no doubt that the iranian army is more then a match for the saudis, it is the Turks that iran should be wary off as they are also a professional army.

Really the only thing SA brings to the Table here is air power and combined with Turkey's Iran will lose control of the air right away. Frankly iran has nothing to compare to the F-15s that SA has even with the inferior pilots of sa.

Turkey won't get involved, but Iran may very well get involved. What makes you think Turkey would get openly involved? They would not. They have everything to lose, while Iran has little to lose. Iran's economy is dependent on oil exports, while Turkey is very dependent on tourism as well as her $16 billion a year trade with Iran, essentially acting as Iran's banker to bypass the sanctions. If Turkey goes to war with Syria, the tourists will stay away, and her economy will take a big hit. The same doesn't apply to Iran. Also, don't forget about the PKK card that Iran and Syria can play, to bother Turkey in the event that Turkey overreaches in Syria. So given those realities, Turkey's involvement will be limited, as it is now. Turks are smarter than Saudis. They will never get involved in an open war in Syria, but Iran or even certain factions in Iraq/Lebanon might just do that, knowing that they can. Iran did it openly in Lebanon back in 80's, while it was at war with Iraq. They might do it again.

Turkey won't get involved, but Iran may very well get involved. What makes you think Turkey would get openly involved? They would not. They have everything to lose, while Iran has little to lose. Iran's economy is dependent on oil exports, while Turkey is very dependent on tourism as well as her $16 billion a year trade with Iran, essentially acting as Iran's banker to bypass the sanctions. If Turkey goes to war with Syria, the tourists will stay away, and her economy will take a big hit. The same doesn't apply to Iran. Also, don't forget about the PKK card that Iran and Syria can play, to bother Turkey in the event that Turkey overreaches in Syria. So given those realities, Turkey's involvement will be limited, as it is now. Turks are smarter than Saudis. They will never get involved in an open war in Syria, but Iran or even certain factions in Iraq/Lebanon might just do that, knowing that they can. Iran did it openly in Lebanon back in 80's, while it was at war with Iraq. They might do it again.

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I am not so sure about turkey. They have their own agenda and if you hadn't noticed turkey is hosting much of the free Syria leadership.

I am not so sure about turkey. They have their own agenda and if you hadn't noticed turkey is hosting much of the free Syria leadership.

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You see the Turks are not tribal sectarian people like the Saudis. Their agenda is purely political. They're not doing this because they hate Iranians and Shias like the Saudis, they're just doing it score political points with the west. But this is not something they'd go to war for. The Turks actually try to very hard to keep a friendly relationship with Iran for various reasons. Culturally too, the Turks are closer to Iranians than Arabs. Even their Islamists look like Swedish liberals compared to the Saudis and their likes. This is the Turkish Islamist mindset when it comes to Iran:

You see the Turks are not tribal sectarian people like the Saudis. Their agenda is purely political. They're not doing this because they hate Iranians and Shias like the Saudis, they're just doing it score political points with the west. But this is not something they'd go to war for.

Once-reluctant Turkey is now gearing up to play a critical role in NATO operations in Libya, which will have their command center at the alliance’s air base in the Aegean city of İzmir.

The announcement of the base’s selection as the center for operations monitoring the no-fly zone in the crisis-hit North African country followed the lifting of Turkey’s previous opposition to any kind of NATO involvement in Libya.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu announced late Thursday that Turkish concerns about the mission had been resolved and that the government would join the international coalition intervening in Libya, an operation for which NATO would assume command.

Also the Turks want to be let into the EU at some point. That and the fact they're watching the Syrians, influenced by their Iranian overlords, exterminate their own population should push them in the right direction.

Hopefully common sense will prevail but talk of others, like Iran and Russia, becoming embroiled is fanciful in the extreme.

While you have been duped by the corporate media to believe Syria is the most crucial humanitarian issue in the world, there is an actual genocide going on in Burma, and the same self-declared champions of Human Rights who are shedding crocodile tears for Syria every day, are not saying a word about it. No condemnation whatever from them or their favorite puppet Aung San Suu Kyi, not a word. They are burring people alive in Burma (don't click on the link if you're easily disturbed) and your collective head is up Syria's ass, because the powers to be, want it that way.

While you have been duped by the corporate media to believe Syria is the most crucial humanitarian issue in the world, there is an actual genocide going on in Burma, and the same self-declared champions of Human Rights who are shedding crocodile tears for Syria every day, are not saying a word about it. No condemnation whatever from them or their favorite puppet Aung San Suu Kyi, not a word. They are burring people alive in Burma (don't click on the link if you're easily disturbed) and your collective head is up Syria's ass, because the powers to be, want it that way.

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I agree we need to put that bitch under house arrest, that will teach her a thing or two

I agree we need to put that bitch under house arrest, that will teach her a thing or two

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She is another tool like Dalai Lama etc, who are used to pressure the rival governments for geo-political leverage, in the name of democracy and human rights. The real test in Burma is now, and as expected, it turned out that all her talk about human rights, were empty slogans all along. When asked about the current genocide, she said she wasn't sure the victims were citizens of Burma, instead of condemning it, because it's her constituents who are carrying out the massacres.

She is another tool like Dalai Lama etc, who are used to pressure the rival governments for geo-political leverage, in the name of democracy and human rights. The real test in Burma is now, and as expected, it turned out that all her talk about human rights, were empty slogans all along. When asked about the current genocide, she said she wasn't sure the victims were citizens of Burma, instead of condemning it, because it's her constituents who are carrying out the massacres.

Mani makes a great point about the lack of condemnation of the horrible events in Myanmar. With respect to Syria, of course, that is a situation that has been caused in large part by plots against Bashar Assad by various governments, including some of these who hypocritically try to pretend that they champion human rights. Put differently, there is zero chance that you would have gun battles in the streets of Damascus and elsewhere in Syria by so-called opposition groups, and the whole attempt to violently and forcibly change Syria's government, if these groups that are doing the fighting were not organized, financed and armed by the coalition that is working to topple Assad. Therefore, there is nothing surprising in the fact that they wish to use whatever they can find to increase pressure on Assad and engage in propaganda in that regard.

Incidentally, if someone has any questions about which side has the support of the people in Syria, just remember: the side that is calling for a free and open election to decide who should be Syria's president is not the side the US et are supporting! Bashar Assad, on the other hand, has endorsed that idea.

So, let me get this straight... they've had 40+ years to have free and fair elections, all the time repressing the people, destroying press freedom and everything ELSE that might lead to a representative democracy, and NOW free and fair elections are the answer to the problem?

So, let me get this straight... they've had 40+ years to have free and fair elections, all the time repressing the people, destroying press freedom and everything ELSE that might lead to a representative democracy, and NOW free and fair elections are the answer to the problem?

Great stuff

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Its up to the people of Syria to pass judgment on the issue, including how they view the "40+ years" you allude to. Not you. And their judgment, I am sure, would not be the one you want to hold for them.

In any case, the plots against Bashar Assad will not succeed. The stakes are too high to allow such an obviously brazen attempt to forcibly remove a government by outside machinations succeed. While Iran's defense minister has denied Iran intends to send troops to help Assad, noting there is no need for such intervention by Iran, Iran has made it clear that it will offer Syria whatever assistance it requests to counter the foreign plots against it.

U.S. military drones may rule the skies worldwide, but Iran has also built its own flying robots for its military and for sale. Satellite images recently confirmed that Iranian-made Mohajer 4 drones have been flying missions out of airfields in Syria to spy on rebels who have been fighting government forces.